Peter Burkhart (concert organizer)

Peter Burkhart (born May 28, 1942 in Zurich ; † December 25, 2014 in Vic-Fezensac , France), also known as “Mühli-Pesche”, was a Swiss concert organizer and founder of the cultural venue Mühle Hunziken in Rubigen (Bern).

Hunziken mill

Live and act

Peter Burkhart was born in 1942 as the son of a Spiez building contractor and liberal. His mother died early. Burkhart was a civil engineer and a first lieutenant in the Swiss Army . As the head of the family he had a wife, two children and a house. In the 1970s he bought the Hunziken mill in Rubigen. Burkhart moved into the building complex with his family and friends. Initially used as a feed mill, Burkhart continuously converted it into a culture mill . From 1976, more than 3000 performances and events with over 15,000 national and international artists from all musical genres took place under his leadership, including Chet Baker , Dave Brubeck , Cesária Évora , Abdullah Ibrahim , Astor Piazzolla , Hermeto Pascoal , Georges Moustaki and Sun Ra . He continuously rebuilt the concert hall, which seats around 400 people, created new mezzanines and placed his collected art objects in it.

In the summer of 2011 Burkhart handed over the management of the concert business to the blues musician Philipp Fankhauser . He moved to the south of France with his wife. The sale of the building only came about in December 2014 after more than three years of legal disputes.

Burkhart was politically active in the 1980s as the Bernese Grand Councilor for the Free List of the Canton of Bern. On Christmas Day 2014, he died of a heart attack at his new home in France.

Awards

1991: Sisyphus Prize of the City of Bern
2000: Grand Culture Prize of the Canton of Bern
2009: Culture Prize of the Burgergemeinde Bern

Web links

Website mill Hunziken

Individual evidence

↑ «Mühli-Pesche» has died. SRF, accessed on December 28, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b Samuel Mumenthaler : More lasting than his ardor was his spirit of support. Berner Zeitung, December 27, 2014, accessed on December 28, 2014 .
^ Regula Freuler: Even New York knew «The Mill» . In: NZZ am Sonntag . January 4, 2015, ISSN 1660-0851 , p. 17 .
↑ «Mühli-Pesche» agreed for the sake of the women. SRF, accessed on December 28, 2014 .

personal data
SURNAME	Burkhart, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Mühli-Pesche
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss concert promoter
DATE OF BIRTH	May 28, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH	Zurich
DATE OF DEATH	December 25, 2014
Place of death	Vic-Fezensac , France

[1] «Mühli-Pesche» has died. SRF, accessed on December 28, 2014 .

[Fördergeist-2] Samuel Mumenthaler : More lasting than his ardor was his spirit of support. Berner Zeitung, December 27, 2014, accessed on December 28, 2014 .

[3] Regula Freuler: Even New York knew «The Mill» . In: NZZ am Sonntag . January 4, 2015, ISSN 1660-0851 , p. 17 .

[4] «Mühli-Pesche» agreed for the sake of the women. SRF, accessed on December 28, 2014 .